Semiconductor switching devices for power applications include transistor cells arrays with a plurality of transistor cells electrically arranged in parallel. The transistor cells control a load current in a load path of the power application. Sense transistor cells integrated in the cell array sense a current through a sense path. The transistor and sense cells may be commonly controlled. On the basis of voltage differences in the sense and load paths, an overcurrent detection circuit may estimate the current flowing through the transistor cells and may turn off the semiconductor switching device when the estimated load current exceeds a predefined threshold.
It is desirable to precisely detect a load current at low complexity and low loss of device performance.